Velella (By-the-Wind Sailor)

ocean · colonial animal · super weird

Floats with a sail. Velella has a stiff, diagonal fin that sticks up above the water like a tiny sail, which catches the wind and pushes it across the open ocean. It's one of the coolest ocean hitchhikers out there.

Actually a colony. Even though Velella looks like one creature, it's actually hundreds of super-tiny animals living and working together as a team. Each little animal has a special job, like catching food or floating.

Travels the whole world. Velella drifts on ocean currents and wind wherever the seas take it, showing up on beaches all around the globe. Sometimes thousands wash ashore together after storms.

Purple and transparent. Velella has a beautiful purple or blue color and is mostly transparent, so you can see right through parts of its body. This makes it hard for fish and other hunters to spot it in the water.

Tiny stinging arms. Like jellyfish relatives, Velella has tentacles with special stinging cells to paralyze its food. It eats plankton and other microscopic ocean creatures floating by.